Eternal Questions
by John Larimore
Summary: I'm back! Here's a cross over with 7th Heaven.


  
The following is a crossover between Seventh Heaven and Highlander.   
  
You know the drill. I am not affiliated with either show and do own the main characters nor the concept.  
  
ETERNAL QUESTIONS  
  
Part One  
Reverend Eric Camden was giving his sermon a final look when the knock on the door he'd been expecting came.  
"Come in."  
The door opened and of the church employees stuck his head in.  
"The leader of the volunteer group is here Reverend Camden."  
"Show him in please."  
Eric put his sermon away and took out the work schedule. A moment later, a tall, brunette man with a ponytail walked in.  
"Reverend Camden?"  
"Yes."  
"I'm Duncan MacLeod."  
"I'm pleased to meet you Mr. MacLeod. Please have a seat and we'll talk about what we need to do."  
  
Lucy Camden was enjoying her after-school program less than she thought. She hadn't expected the "School Clean-Up Crew" to be a party, but the work was getting monotonous and weary. Still, she'd follow through to the end. It wasn't long before graduation and this was a good way to go out.  
"That's right," said Mr. Jenlack. "Hold it right there."  
Lucy and her co-student worker Ben steadied the light fixture. They had finally gotten it at the right angle. Lucy thought that Mr. Jenlack was making too much of it. Of course the field had to be well illuminated, but did they need an individual light on every spot?  
"Let's test it folks. Turn it on."  
Mr. Jenlack's assistant, Ms. Kinell, flipped the switch. Lucy and Ben jerked as they released strangled groans.  
  
"Turn it off! Turn it off!"  
The power was shut down. The two victims of faulty wiring collapsed. Students and staff rushed to help. Some began C. P. R. while someone rushed to phone to dial 911.  
  
"All I can say is the church's homeless shelter really appreciates volunteers like you Mr. MacLeod."  
"I'm glad to help Reverend Camden. Why don't me Mac? My friends do."  
Eric considered asking Mac to call him by his first name. Perhaps he wanted to keep this informal. A voice interrupted his thoughts.  
"Reverend Camden, there's a call for you from your daughter Lucy's school."  
"I'll be right there. Please excuse me Mr. MacLeod-Mac."  
Mac looked around him. Volunteering at a homeless shelter seemed smaller than what he'd done in the past. He'd gone to war torn countries, helped refugees, taken part in the Abolitionists movement. Now here he was offering to serve in food line. Oh well, every little bit helped. If he was going to be here for centuries he might as well use the time to help people.  
"Mr. MacLeod," said Reverend Camden as he hurried up. "I have to leave. My daughter's been hurt in accident. Can I call you later?"  
"Of course."  
  
Lucy Camden gasped and sat up. She felt as if a surge of power went through her body. When she looked around, she saw two men dressed in white, looking at her with surprised relief.  
"What's happening?" asked Lucy. "Is this a hospital?"  
"Yes," said one of the men. "You got an electrical shock Ms. Camden. You're all right now."  
Ten minutes later Lucy was hugging her parents. She barely paid attention to the doctor's words.  
"It's a little surprising she survived considering the shock she got."  
"What about Ben?" asked Lucy.  
  
"I'm sorry, he didn't make it. Listen Lucy, I want you to take it slow for a couple of days. If you feel nauseous, dizzy, light-headed, or anything else strange, call me."  
The doctor gave a few more instructions and Lucy's parents took her home. Lucy was relieved to hug her siblings, but was bit annoyed over the fuss. When she was younger, she'd complained about being left out. Now she seemed to be getting too much attention. She was all right. She'd wished people would focus on that instead of the "almost died" part.  
Well, at least her family cared. Soon thing would be back to normal. Or so she thought. No one in the Camden household knew how much things had changed for Lucy.  
Meanwhile, Eric invited Mac over lunch the next. They'd talk about the volunteer work over lunch. It wouldn't be easy. The thought of volunteer work soured on him now. It was hard to accept that his daughter had almost been killed while volunteering.  
  
The next day Mac was a passenger in Eric's car. He was about to ask about the volunteer work when the Buzz hit him. Someone in this neighborhood, possibly someone in the Revernd's home, was an Immortal. He wondered if he was in trouble. Tense, but trying not to show it, he followed the Reverend into the house.  
"Mr. MacLeod, this is my son Matt, my other son David, and my daughter Ruthie. And down here is Happy."  
When Mac was done shaking hands (and paws,) Matt spoke.  
"Dad, I'm worried about Lucy. She said her head felt weird. Mom's looking at her upstairs in the bathroom."  
"Please pardon me Mr. MacLoed," said Eric. He hurried upstairs.  
"Come on in Mr. MacLeod," said David. "Have a seat."  
"Thanks David. Who's Lucy?"  
"My sister. She was in accident yesterday and we're a little worried."  
"What happened?"  
"She was electrocuted," said Matt. "The doctors are surprised she survived."  
"I don't think she did," thought Mac. "Lucy had her first death."  
  
  
Mac wondered how he got into this. A new Immortal. It was unlikely any one knew, least of all her.  
At that moment Lucy came downstairs with her parents. Eric made hurried introductions before Lucy and mother left for the hospital. Mac and Eric began to discuss the next day.  
When Lucy came home she stressed that she wanted to take part in volunteer work that Saturday. The doctors had found nothing and thought the sensation may have been an aftereffect. Her parents agreed to let her participate if she took it easy. The next day, she felt the sensation again.  
"Lucy."  
"Hi, Mr. MacLeod."  
"We need to talk. Can you step away for a moment?"  
"I guess," said Lucy, curious about what he wanted.  
They walked behind the building. Lucy began to feel apprehensive. Why did he want be in such a secluded area. Sure, some people were within earshot, something was still wrong.  
"I need to talk to you about the sensation you had yesterday," said Mac. "I know you just had it again."  
"How did you know that?"  
"Because I caused it. And you caused it in me. You're an Immortal Lucy. Just like I am."  
  
Part Two  
MacLeod found that explaining matters to new Immortals was rarely easy. Lucy had wanted to get away from him at first. He had to slash his own arm with a dagger and then restrain her to prevent her form bringing anyone. He held her until his arm healed. When Lucy recovered from the shock, she asked him to make a small cut on her own arm. She watched her own incredible healing.  
"You're serious aren't you?" asked Lucy  
  
  
"Yes, " said MacLeod. "And there's more Right now we have to get back before we're missed."  
When Mac was able to get Lucy alone again, he explained about the Game.  
"I don't understand," said Lucy. How come the can be only one?"  
"No one knows," replied Mac. "Some of us doubt if it's true. But there are enough who live by to force everyone to participate."  
"I have to tell my parents."  
"You can't tell anyone."  
" I have to tell my parents. They've got to know. I'd appreciate it if you'd help me."  
Mac had reservations, but agreed. This was so inconvenient. Immortals were supposed to disappear after their first death. The problem was no one knew that Lucy had ided. As far as they were concerned, she'd been lucky.  
  
That night, when Ruthie and Simon were in bed and Matt had gone to his apartment. Lucy, backed by Mac, spoke with her parents. When they stopped talking, Eric sat n the couch, staring at nothing in particular. Anne got up an paced the room. Mac had proven it to them the same way he'd proven it to Lucy. Now, both believed, but neither knew what to think.  
"People will try to kill her?" asked Eric.  
"Some will," said Mac. "She has to be ready for them."  
Eric joined his wife in pacing. He was at a loss. Frequently he turned to the Bible for answers. This time, however, he knew of no verse, no scripture, no section that explained this. All he knew was that his daughter could be looking at a life of decapitating others so they wouldn't decapitate her.  
"She's safe on Holy Ground isn't she?" asked Anne.  
"With all due respect Mrs. Camden, she can't spend her life in church."  
"Mr. MacLeod says he'll train me," put in Lucy.  
"To kill people?" asked her mother gravely.  
"To stop them from killing me."  
"When can her training start?" asked Eric.  
  
"Wait a second Eric," said Anne. "Let's discuss this."  
"Mom, I don't like this either, but he says I'll die if I don't learn to use a sword and I believe him. I can start training or hide for the rest of eternity."  
"Then I guess you'd better train."  
  
Eric Camden lay awake, staring at the ceiling. His wife had finally lapsed into a restless sleep. He doubted if he'd be able to do the same. Many of his views on life had been shattered.  
His daughter, immortal, eternal, and maybe doomed. Destined to spend her life killing others to protect her existence. He didn't want that for her, but there seemed to be no escaping it. As she'd said, she couldn't just hide. He and Anne had taught his children to face their problems. He couldn't go back on that now, even with these bizarre circumstances.  
Was this part of God's plan? To select a group of people and them this gift. But why the killing? To ferret out the unworthy? Or was that something created by the earthly beings with the difference. Questions, questions, questions. He closed his eyes and tried to find slumber. Tomorrow, his daughter's training would begin.  
  
Meanwhile, Lucy was also laying awake, thinking about her future. Her possibly long future. Fighting, killing, being stalked. It wasn't what she thought she'd have to do with her life.  
There were other concerns though. Here she was in late adolescence. Not quite an adult. And she'd never be. She was trapped at this age. Always just shy of being a young woman.  
She'd not only see her parents buried, but her siblings. Even her toddler brothers. She'd never have children. Be a parent as good as the ones she had. Then one day her head would come off her neck and it would finally be over. No peaceful ending for her. Unless she won this mysterious Prize that no one even knew for sure existed.  
She rolled over. She had get some sleep. Tomorrow, Mr. MacLeod and his friend Amanda would train her. Time to begin her new life.  
  
Part Three  
"Sometimes you have to move your wrist to position your sword," said Amanda, "but during the swing, keep your wrist stiff and let your shoulder and elbow do the work."  
She held Lucy's wrist and guided the motion. The Lucy tried it alone. Slowly the first time. Then at full speed.  
"You're right," said Lucy. "That didn't hurt this time. Let's try it again."  
Lucy followed Amanda, duplicating her movements, MacLeod stood back, occasionally giving an instruction. Their new student was learning well, but still had a ways to go. Plus there was more to it than sword fighting. He was worried that she wasn't adapting as well as she let on.  
"This whole thing seems strange," said Lucy, without stopping her mimicry of Amanda's movements. "Is decapitation really the only thing that can kill me."  
"Yes, if anything else that's normally fatal happens to you, you'll enter a death-like state and revive later."  
"What about that sensation you feel when you're near another Immortal."  
"It's called the Buzz. We don't understand it. There's a lot about ourselves we don't understand. Come one, let's try sparring."  
The two of them faced each other. Amanda tried several of her favorite strategies, holding back, but not by much. Lucy managed to hold on to her weapon through Amanda's disarming technics and held her ground when Amanda tried to force her back. Still it was obvious she was outmatched. She blocked most of Amanda's blows, but couldn't get on the offensive. MacLeod knew that if this had been a real battle, Lucy Camden would have died. Lucy knew this too.  
  
Whenever Lucy went to MacLeod's home of the field they frequently practiced in, at least one of her parents accompanied her. Eric Camden watched intently. He knew nothing about sword fighting, but he could recognize improvement. His daughter's swings were becoming more accurate, faster, stronger, smoother-deadlier. He told himself that she'd have to live and that this was the way. One night in he was in the lining room, looking at a picture of Lucy from a years back.   
  
"I don't like it," said Anne behind him. He didn't have to ask what she meant.  
"Neither do I, but what else can we do. I believe everything Mr. MacLeod has told us."  
"So do I. I just don't want this for our daughter. I didn't think humans were meant to be immortal. And this 'There can be only one,' business? It makes no sense. Do you know what happens when you confine a group of tarantulas? They cannibalize each other until only one, usually he biggest, is left. Aren't people supposed to be better than that?"  
"Looking at history Honey, I don't know."  
  
The next Sunday, as Lucy entered her father's church, she felt the Buzz. Like most Immortals, she stopped and looked around. The church was full. How could she tell who it was?  
"Lucy what's wrong?" asked her mother.  
"One of them's here," replied Lucy.  
"One of who?" asked Ruthie.  
"Never mind," said Lucy. There were some things her little sister shouldn't know. "I just thought I saw someone I knew."  
The family went to their benches. Lucy could see the tensions in her mother. This could be a bad day. She tried not to be too apprehensive. They were on Holy Ground, for now.  
The Christening, the sermon, and the prayer all went well. At the end of the service, the family joined Eric to say good-bye to church go-ers as they left. Soon, Lucy felt the Buzz again and a red-haired woman approached. She accepted Eric's hand shake, but her eyes locked on Lucy. Anne felt no Buzz, but understood.  
"Stay away from my daughter or I'll call the police," she said in a low voice.  
"And tell them what?" asked the woman. She left.  
"What was that about?" asked Simon.  
"Nothing," said Anne. "Just a minor problem."  
"A minor problem you need to call the police about?" asked Simon.  
Anne evaded the question. However, she was very direct with Mac.  
  
  
  
Part Four  
Two days latter, Mac went to Joe's bar. Mac made small talk before he got to the main point. He didn't like asking Joe to violate his non-interference oath, but sometimes, perhaps too often, it seemed necessary.  
"I have to ask you something Joe. Do you know about Lucy Camden?"  
"Yes. A Watcher has been assigned to her."  
"Do you know about the Immortal who confronted her last Sunday?"  
"Lucy's Watcher wasn't with her Sunday. As much as we'd like to think we have Immortals under watch twenty-four/seven it's not possible."  
Mac described the woman. Long red air. Dark green dress. Taller than average. He went on to describe the incident. A direct stare on Holy Ground.  
"Sounds like our Jane Doe."  
"Jane Doe?"  
"We discovered last month. She's hard to keep track of. Disappears and reappears. No luck in discovering her identity. We do know she's pretty brazen. Probably a headhunter, but not one of the evil ones. Just someone out to the win the Game."  
"How good is she?"  
"She's taken a couple of newcomer heads. Probably a newcomer herself. That's about all I can tell you."  
"Thanks Joe."  
  
Lucy sat on the exercise mat in the garage. Her legs were folded and she held her arms slightly out and in front of her. One hand held the hilt of her sword lightly. The other held the blade very lightly. Her eyes were closed as she focused on her thoughts.  
"My sword is an extension of me. Part of me. An addition to me. To my mind, my body, my soul, my life. It will be my life. What keeps me alive. I aam one with my sword.  
Outside the garage, her mother ushered Simon away.  
"Sorry Simon, I forgot that Lucy was using the garage. You can get the tool kit later."  
"When did Lucy start meditating?"  
  
"Recently."  
"Was that a sword she was holding?"  
"Must be part of the meditation."  
"You know, I think something weird going on with her. She's been acting differently lately. And remember that woman at the church.  
"Don't worry Simon," said Anne. "I'm sure Lucy's all right."  
  
Part Five  
As usual, Lucy had wanted to go right home after school. Today, however, she received a note from Mr. Jenlack to meet him behind the school. As Lucy approached the area, she felt the Buzz. When she turned, she saw who she expected, the woman from the church, sword drawn.  
"Who are you?" asked Lucy. She pulled her own sword from the case she was carrying.  
"I'd rather not tell you," said the woman. "We don't need to know each other. Let's finish this."  
The woman charged, thrusting her blade ahead of her. Lucy parried the first three attacks and side-swiped the forth. She aimed a swing at the woman's head. Her opponent easily dodged it and Lucy had to duck to avoid the counter-blow.  
Lucy called on all her training, her self-confidence (which had increased over the years,) her will. She blocked or parried every blow, but felt the fatigue. As they circled, the woman looked for an opening. Then she saw one, but not for her sword. She took a step back and did a low roundhouse kick into the back of Lucy's knee.  
Lucy almost fell. As she attempted to recover her footing, the woman thrust her sword forward again. Lucy's lung was punctured, not as serious as it could have been, but she fell. She tried felt her immortal body struggling for air as it tried to heal itself. The woman advanced slowly as Lucy tried the seemingly impossible task of getting to her feet while backing away. She was on her knees when the woman reached striking range.  
Then Lucy realized that she still held her sword. Her hand had clutched throughout her fall. Maybe the meditation had paid off.  
"I'm sorry," said the woman as she raised her sword.  
  
"Right," thought Lucy. Under other circumstances, she might have heard the sincerity in the voice. However at the moment Lucy only cared about one thing: survival.  
As she finished the thought, she thrust her sword up through the woman's abdomen. Up through the diaphragm. Up into the chest. Narrowly missing the heart, but damaging a pulmonary vein. The woman suppressed a cry. Lucy pulled her weapon out of the wound. Still struggling to breathe, but only slightly, she rose to her feet. Paradoxically, the woman dropped to her knees. She no longer held her weapon.  
Lucy looked at her. She was kneeling, Doing nothing, except trying not to pass out from loss of blood.  
"Why?" asked Lucy as she raised her blade.  
"It's our law," said the woman. "Once we found each other, it was only a question of who died."  
Lucy knew that if the woman lived, she'd try again. Her blade came down and answered the question.  
Her first reaction was surprise. Severing the neck hadn't been as difficult as she'd thought. Amanda had said that you channeled energy through your sword. Maybe that was it. These thoughts lasted a second or two. And then Lucy was sickened. She turned around so that she wouldn't have to look at what she'd done.  
The Quickening was incredible. Pleasure and pain at the same time. Ripped apart and strengthened at once. Mental anguish and the absorption of knowledge together. When it was over, Lucy collapsed.  
  
Part Six  
Lucy and her parents cried together that night. They prayed for everyone involved Eric hadn't been sure if someone had to die, but he kept playing his daughter's words over and over again: "You weren't there so you don't know. It not black and white anymore." Mac assured them that the Watchers would tend to the woman's body properly. This, of course, led to explaining who the Watchers were. Lucy was not happy with the idea, but accepted it along with everything else.  
  
  
The whole experience had altered Lucy's way of looking at life. And death. Nothing seemed the same. She'd was looking at eternal life unless she died at someone's sword. More likely than not, this would happen someday. Still, she'd fight to prevent it from happening. Death was a part of life now, because it was how she'd stay alive.  
The was another unexpected effect. Immortality helped her decide which college she was going to. Mr. MacLeod knew an Immortal instructor at a university in a nearby town. He'd agreed to train her. A little more than a month after her first kill, Lucy graduated was off.  
She felt a pang of guilt about her siblings. They knew nothing of what she was. She debated telling Matt, but Ruthie was probably to young to cope. Plus to be perfectly honest, she couldn't always keep her mouth shut. Simon had become a bit unpredictable recently. Until his behavior calmed, he couldn't be told. Mary-well, she wasn't sure if Mary was still Mary anymore. All her brothers and sister knew was that she'd been quiet, had started meditating, and had a new interest in trenchcoats.  
So Lucy Camden left home. She'd be back and would always return for visits as long as both she and at least family member both lived. There were new questions about her relationship with God and the world. Maybe some day she'd have answers. Until then, or as long she survived, she'd learn, she'd fight, and when she had to, she'd kill. A new Immortal, still a little confused, but play the game.  
  



End file.
